Men's Basketball

Streaking Bears Travel To Harvard and Dartmouth

Providence, Rhode Island - As the season winds down, the Brown
men’s basketball team seems to be getting stronger. Brown,
winners of three of their last four games, will be on the road for
the final time this season, traveling to Boston, Mass. to face
Harvard Friday, February 26, and then up to Hanover, New Hampshire
to battle Dartmouth on Saturday, February 27.

Last week, Brown (10-17, 4-6 Ivy) registered a rare sweep of Penn
and Princeton on the road, beating the Quaker in Philadelphia,
80-73, and the Tigers in Princeton, 57-54. This is only the seventh
time in Ivy League history that an Ivy League team has swept Penn
and Princeton on the road, with Brown owning two of the sweeps, the
other in 2007-2008.

Bears’ freshman forward Tucker Halpern (Brookline, MA) was
named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week for the second time after
helping the Bears sweep Penn and Princeton. Halpern scored
11 points on 3 of 4 shooting from the field in Brown's win over
Penn at the Palestra, while pulling down 3 rebounds, handing out
three assists and blocking three shots. Against Princeton, Halpern
kept the Bears in the game with 12 first half points, connecting on
6 of 8 field goals, while adding two assists and a rebound. Halpern
shot a sizzling 75-percent from the field (9 of 12) for the two
games.

Senior Matt Mullery (Millstone, NJ), Brown’s 19th all-time
leading scorer with 1,076 career points, has been selected to the
ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American Men’s Basketball
Team, earning Third Team honors. Mullery has posted a 3.31 GPA as a
Modern American history concentrator at Brown. A Lowe’s
Senior Class candidate, he also tutors other Brown students in math
and calculus.

Brown and Harvard have met 161 times, dating back to the 1900-1901
season, with the Crimson holding an 87-74 series advantage. Harvard
earned an 81-67 win over the Bears earlier this year at the
Pizzitola Sports Center, despite 21 points by Bears’ forward
Peter Sullivan. Brown and Harvard split games last season with the
Bears earning a 61-59 win over the Crimson in Providence, and
Harvard earning a 64-63 win over the Bears in Cambridge.

Brown and Dartmouth will be meeting for the 140th time, dating
back to 1901-1902, with the Big Green holding a 75-64 series
advantage. Brown has won the last two games over Dartmouth,
including a 60-75 victory in Providence on 2/12/10 behind Peter
Sullivan’s 23 points and 11 rebounds. The two teams split
games last season with Brown taking a 69-59 victory over the Big
Green in Providence on the final day of the season, and Dartmouth
earning a 63-61 overtime win over the Bears in Hanover.

Bear Facts: Brown’s game against Dartmouth
on Saturday will be its 29th game of the season, tying the school
record for games played with the 2003, 2007 and 2008 Brown teams.
The Bears have two remaining games after Saturday, hosting Cornell
and Columbia on March 5 and 6, for its school record 30th and 31st
games… Junior All-Ivy forward Peter Sullivan (Wilmette, IL),
Brown’s second leading scorer with 12.3 points per game and
the only Brown player to start all 27 games, enjoyed another big
weekend, helping the Bears sweep Penn and Princeton on the road
with 18 points vs. Penn and 13 points against Princeton…
Junior guard Garrett Leffelman (Naperville, IL) has earned a
starting role for the Bears and is averaging 10.5 ppg in Ivy League
games. He is the Ivy League’s third leading shooter,
connecting on 35 of 68 field goals (.515) in league games. Garrett
registered a career scoring high for the second straight time,
netting 18 points in Brown’s win over Penn…Senior
guard Steve Gruber (Milwaukee, WI), who has started three games for
the Bears, hit six of six free throws in Brown’s road win
over Princeton, including two with 11 seconds remaining to ice the
victory for the Bears..The Bears wrap-up their 2009-2010 season at
home next weekend, hosting Cornell on Friday, March 5, and Columbia
on Saturday, March 6 at the Pizzitola Sports Center. Both game
tip-off at 7:00 p.m.